Truck And Recreational Vehicle Repair Service Adding Fourth Location
BMT offers wheel alignment for heavy commercial vehicles
VICTORIA – A firm commitment to honest, top quality service has enabled BMT Group Services to reach another gear and expand its operations on Vancouver Island.
Fraser Sim and William Whitelaw started the bus, commercial truck, RV and commercial autobody repair service at 1947 Canso Road in North Saanich in 2011. They’ve since added another location in Greater Victoria on McDonald Park Road, and last May opened a Nanaimo outlet on Port Drive. Next month they’ll open their fourth location, in Errington just outside of Parksville, which puts them within a 30 minute drive of customers in the Comox Valley and Port Alberni.
William Whitelaw and Fraser Sim with the 2020 Vancouver Island Business Excellence Awards Trades Business of the Year Award
BMT is an Authorized Hino Service and parts dealer, Cummins sales and service dealer, Spartan Chassis Service dealer and exclusive Alexander Dennis Service Dealer for Vancouver Island. They also operate RVRentVancouverIsland.com, a recreational vehicle rental company.
“Both of us worked for Gray Line in Victoria prior to starting this business, and we did outside work while there to supplement our income,” recalls Sim. “When they shut down, it was the encouragement from our customers who had no place to go that pushed us over the line to open up our own place.
“One of those was CVS Cruise Victoria, which has become our singular largest customer over these 12 years. Their work accounts for 25 per cent of our business.”
Whitelaw was the Gray Line foreman, and remembers “the customers were desperate for somebody to take care of them.
BMT Managing Partner, William Whitelaw
Nobody wanted to deal with motor homes then, and Fraser had a background in the body shop and paint side, so we decided to have a ‘one-stop’ shop that we could be proud of going forward, and build something nobody else had. I think we’ve done that.”
General Manager Michael McTavish joined the company last November, due in large part to BMT’s commitment to service.
“One thing that stood out for me was their reputation,” he notes. “They don’t shy away from problems, and the quality of the repairs BMT does is what they’ve hung their hat on, and it has contributed to their growth. We don’t cut corners.”
That’s also what drove Hino to approach BMT to do their service and parts work.
“Hino came to us because their customers told them they need to talk to these guys that do such a fantastic job,” Sim notes. “It was a two-year process between them vetting us and us vetting them, and we took over. We are now a S3 dealership: sales, service and parts.”
Michael, GM and Lisa, Service Advisor at BMT Group Services
Whitelaw states “Our growth in the Hino brand for sales has been tremendous up Island. We have a lot of customers that are buying the product now because we have ability to service them right there.”
Their commitment to service extends throughout the staff, and Sim says “We couldn’t have done all this without them.
They have bought in to what we do and provide that next level of excellence for our customers.”
By Mark MacDonald
